In and out spiral trough parts cleaner



Aug. 2s, 1956 w. v. SPURLIN 2,760,504

IN AND OUT SPIRAL TROUGH PARTS CLEANER Filed Feb. 18, 1953 19/6 I477OPIVEX Unite States patent flice 2,760,504 IN AND OUT SPIRAL TROUGH PARTS CLEANER William V. Spurlin, Indiana, Pa., assignor to Syntron Company, Homer City, Pa., in corporation of Delaware Application February 18, 1953, Serial No. 337,456 4 Claims. (Cl. 134-132) This invention relates generally to vibratory feeder conthe top to permit the material traveling therealong to be treated.

In treating or washing or cleaning articles it is necessary.

One has to depend upon the action 0f the cleaning liquid to insure a clean part.

Frequently, it is desirable to have the bulk of the or otherwise exposed to the same time by a be vibrated, subjecting it properly to the treatment intended and without handling.

from the other, or the conveyer may be inserted in turn into a series of tanks or vice versa. The conveyer may be easily handled by a crane carrying the same from one tank to the other.

wherein each article and particle would the massive base 1 soas to be closed at its lower 2,760,504 Patented Aug. 28, 1956 2 Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the following description and claims.

The accompanying drawings show for the purpose'of exemplification, without limiting the invention or claims thereto, certain practical embodiments of the invention wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of' the conveyer suspended in a tank, the latter being in section.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Referri provided The underside of a plurality of blocks the spring members of the applied current.

A block member 9 is employed to suspend the field and core member 10 and 11 from the central axis of of the field core from leaves, the exact number required size and weight of the spiral trough.

and is suspended concentrically of th e same central vertical axis.

e axis of the column is concentric: with support the frame 14* for vibration."

The central column ly in accordance with the disposition of the springs 7.

20 is secured to the outer edges of the downward track 13, and it is sloped in the opposite direction so that it will convey material upwardly therealong. The downward conveyer track 18 has the inlet 21 which may be supplied with material as the chute 22 that receives material from a hopper or other similar device.

- which case, the articles would pass in single in Fig. 3, the

1 being conveyed in a ployed to enclose means of the steam coils 44 4 ing coupler such as illustrated at 47 for 1 system. A similar coupling is provided on continuous up start of the downward track 18, however, as it narrows down, it becomes the same width as the track 20, in file and thus move down and back the conveyer track.

Asjshown in Figs. 1 and 3, the downward conveyer track 18 terminates at 33 where the same empties out into the transfer pan member 31, which is provided at the up wardly extending wall 32. The articles or material will 2 flow around in a counterclockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 3, until they come to the beginning of the upward conveyer track 20, as indicated at 34, wherein the elements travel up to the discharge end thereof. As shown transfer pan may be provided with holes, as illustrated at 35, when it is desired to wash the articles liquid and it is desired to drain the liquid from the transfer pan when from the tank member 36.

The tank 36, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is provided with a flange member 37 which supports it in the opening of the floor 38. The flange 37 rests on the retractable members 39 that are secured to the underside of the floor 38.-

such as illustrated at 40 may be cmthe inlet and outlet of the conveyer retention of heat or any other gaseous along the A flexible canopy to the track for the treatment given to the material as it passes conveyer through the tank.

An inlet pipe 41 is provided with a valve 42 and is for the purpose of admitting liquid or gas such as steam or other type of gas for treating material. The outlet pipe is illustrated at 49 at the bottom thereof, and is provided with the valve 43 for drawing off or exhausting the gases or liquids that may be inserted in the tank through the pipe 41. The washing liquid solutions may be water, aqueous salts, or such liquids as naphtha or carbon tetrachloride. The tank 36 may be heated by which are wound around and secured to the tank 36 and are controlled by the inlet valve 45 and the outlet valve 46. Each of the pipe connections 41 and 44 is provided with a quick actthe purpose of coupling and uncoupling the tank from the fluid supply pipe 49. A lift or elevator such as illustrated at 50, which is an open tubular column that encircles and engages the underside of the tank 36, may be employed for raising the tank in position wherein it can be interlocked or supported at .its' upper end as previously described. When it is desirable to let the conveyor remain stationary and remove the tank, the latter is disconnected from the assoand the tank then is permitted to descend by means of the the outlet the conveyer is removed elevator member which lowers the same and conveys the tank from the vicinity of the suspended conveyer. Thus any articles placed on the inlet and permitted to travel down around the conveyer track 18, across the trans fer pan 31 and up the conveyer track 20 to the outlet are jestled and joggled along as they travel and if the tank 36, in which the conveyer is immersed is filled with a cleaning fluid, the iostled article will be thoroughly cleansed by the liquid as it is joggled in being conveyed therethrough.

If, on the other hand, it is necessary to heat the liquid, the steam is allowed to flow through the pipe 44 to heat the tank and the liquid without heating the motor parts.

It is sometimes desirable to have the liquid continuously pass through the tank, in which case, the valve 43 at the discharge end of the tank is opened to permit the liquid to escape while the inlet valve 42 is being continuously supplied by the liquid passing through the line 41 at the upper end of the tank.

I claim:

l. A conveyer comprising a resiliently supported reaction member, a frame, a plurality of flexible members secured to said reaction member and to said frame to support the latter for reciprocation in a confined inclined arcuate path of movement about a vertical axis, driving means for imparting energy impulses to reciprocate said frame in synchronism with the frequency of said energy impulses, a first upwardly open conveyer. track secured to said frame and spiraling therefrom, a seccud-upwardly open conveyer track secured to and spiraling in the opposite direction along the outside of the first track, an upwardly open transfer pan supported by said conveyer tracks on the outer ends thereof for receiving material from one track and delivering it to the other trackby conveying action, and an inlet and an outlet for delivering material to and removing'material from said tracks after having traveled along one track across the transfer pan and along the other track.

2. A structure of claim 1 which also includes a tank into which the conveyer mechanism is suspended from said frame, said tank encircling said both tracks below the inlet and outlet, to carry liquid for bathing the materials conveyed along both tracks.

3. The structure of claim 2 characterized in that said transfer pan perimeter is closely adjacent the vertical wall of the tank.

4. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that the perimeter of said transfer pan is greater in radius than the radii of both tracks and smaller than said tank to enable it to fit into the latter and catch any material falling off both tracks. 1

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Wilkinson May 31, 1938 2,662,851 Jones Dec. 15, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 695,938 Germany Sept. 6, 1940 943,865 France Mar. 21, 1949 

